* help please. RC, women in industrial union organizations

[yuanyue92]

Although the industrial union organizations that emerged under the banner of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in the 1930s and 1940s embraced the principles of nondiscrimination and inclusion, the role of women within unions reflected the prevailing gender ideology of the period. Elizabeth Faue's study of the labor movement in Minneapolis argues that women were marginalized by union bureaucratization and by the separation of unions from the community politics from which industrial unionism had emerged. Faue stresses the importance of women's contribution to the development of unions at the community level, contr ibutions that made women's ultimate fate within the city's labor movement all the more poignant: as unions reached the peak of their strength in the 1940s, the community base that had made their success possible and to which women's contributions were so vital became increasingly irrelevant to unions' institutional life.
In her study of CIO industrial unions from the 1930s to the 1970s, Nancy F, Gabin also acknowledges the pervasive male domination in the unions, but maintains that women workers were able to create a political space within some unions to advance their interests as women. Gabin shows that, despite the unions' tendency to marginalize women's issues, working women's demands were a constant undercurrent within the union, and she stresses the links between the unions' women activists and the wave of feminism that emerged in the 1960s.

Question: Which of the following can be inferred regarding the "gender ideology" mentioned in the highlighted text?
A. It prevented women from making significant contributions to the establishment of industrial unions
B. It resulted from the marginal ization of women in Industrial unions
C. It had a significant effect on the advancement of women's issues within industrial unions
D. Its primary tenets were nondiscrimination and inclusion
E. Its effects were mitigated by the growth of industrial unions

C is the right answer, but I have no idea why. Gender ideology is mentioned in the 1st paragraph, while advancement of women issues within industrial unions is in the 2nd. Are they related in some way? Can the former have some effect on the latter?

Can you help me. Thanks!!

[yuanyue92]

help, please

[kd17]

hey, when I first did this question, I got it wrong. I then spent a good hour trying to figure out why the answer was C until I finally had an epiphany and I hope my explanation will help you (and is correct).

A. It prevented women from making significant contributions to the establishment of industrial unions

The passage says 'to which women's contributions were so vital' and 'Faue stresses the importance of women's contribution to the development of unions'. This clearly shows that women actually did contribute, nothing prevented them from doing so.

B. It resulted from the marginalization of women in Industrial unions

The passage says 'unions reflected the prevailing gender ideology of the period'. That means that the gender ideology existed before the unions did so it couldn't have resulted from the marginalization of women in industrial unions. In fact, it's probably the opposite - the marginalization of women resulted from the gender ideology.

C. It had a significant effect on the advancement of women's issues within industrial unions

Like I mentioned above, the passages suggests that gender ideology caused the marginalization of women in industrial unions. The passage states 'the community base [women] ...became increasingly irrelevant to unions' institutional life'. The industrial unions marginalized the women and their issues as they began to view them as irrelevant - you can infer that this is because of the prevailing gender ideology. The 'significant effect' is that gender ideology actually prevented the advancement of women issues. Thus the passage implies that the gender ideology negatively affected the way women's issues were treated and thus had a significant effect on the advancement of women's issues within industrial unions.

D. Its primary tenets were nondiscrimination and inclusion

Gender ideology is the exact opposite. The tenets of the industrial unions 'embraced the principles of nondiscrimination and inclusion'. The passages uses 'although' in the same sentence to suggest a contrast in the way they actually did treat issues and further states that 'the role of women... reflected the prevailing gender ideology' - the complete opposite of its tenets.

E. Its effects were mitigated by the growth of industrial unions

the passage states 'as unions reached the peak of their strength in the 1940s, the community base that had made their success possible and to which women's contributions were so vital became increasingly irrelevant to unions' institutional life.' This shows that as the unions grew, the way they viewed women and their issues became worse or irrelevant.

I probably wouldn't focus on the word women's issues - the purpose of industrial unions is to address and support issues of the industrial workers. The first passage is shows how gender ideology affected how women were viewed in industrial unions. A natural byproduct would be the way their issues were viewed and treated as well. In addition, the second passage implies that the viewpoint in the first paragraph is that women weren't really able to advance their interests through this statement: 'but maintains that women workers were able to create a political space within some unions to advance their interests as women.'

I hope that helps! If any of the instructors see anything wrong with my logic, please correct me :)

[yuanyue92]

thank you, kd17! I understand what you said. A negative effect can also be a significant effect. That's a point I failed to figure out.
When I read the passage again days later, I find another possible explanation. The significant effect that gender ideology had on the advancement of women issues within industrial unions can be transmitted by the marginalization of women. As kd17 said, gender ideology can lead to the marginalization of women. In the 2nd paragraph, "women workers were able to create a political space within some unions to advance their interests as women", which means that women workers struggled to revolt the marginalization and thus advanced women issues within industrial unions. So gender ideology indirectly caused the advancement of women issues within industrial unions.
Is either of the two patterns above right? Instructors, please help us!

[RonPurewal]

hello, please read the forum rules: read-before-you-post-general-verbal-folder-guidelines-t2718.html

you can't post problems in this folder without giving the ORIGINAL SOURCE of the problem -- i.e., the company or author that first produced the problem (not, for instance, a forum or other secondhand source on which it has previously been posted).
if you don't know the original source, then i'm sorry, but you can't post the problem here.

this applies to MGMAT problems as well -- there are over three thousand problems in our database, so we won't recognize all of them from memory.

we will delete this thread within 1-2 weeks if the original source of the problem is not posted. thanks.

[soumya2022]

Source: GMAT Prep

The below question from the same passage had me confused.
Request your guidance.

--According to the passage, Faue's study and Gabin's study agree in that both
a) attribute the inclusion of women in unions to the policies of the CIO
b) emphasize the importance of unions at the community level
c) argue that women played important roles in the establishment of industrial union organisations
d) suggest that women in industrial union organizations played a subordinate role
e) suggest that the interests of women workers were incompatible with those of unions in general

I picked option D-since there is no other evidence anywhere in the passage for the other options to hold true. Please correct me if I'm wrong

Thank you
regards
Soumya

[liu1993918]

Which of the following can be inferred regarding the "gender ideology" mentioned in the highlighted text?

(A) It prevented women from making significant contributions to the establishment of industrial unions.
(B) It resulted from the marginalization of women in industrial unions.
(C) It had a significant effect on the advancement of women's issues within industrial unions.
(D) Its primary tenets were nondiscrimination and inclusion.
(E) Its effects were mitigated by the growth of industrial unions.

The OA is C.
I am really confused why C is correct.
Is the significant effect in C means negative effect?
Dear instructors, can you give me some explanations, please?

[RonPurewal]

a "significant effect" can be any significant effect--positive, negative, or otherwise.

[RonPurewal]

you would probably realize this ^^ in random real-life contexts.
e.g., if a doctor says Your diet plays a significant role in your overall health, you'd probably realize that (s)he could be referring either to a bad diet (which will play a significant negative role) or to a good one (which will play a significant positive role).

[RonPurewal]

also, you can't just "not like choice C"... if you're going to hate an answer choice, then you need to throw your support behind another answer choice.

if you don't like choice C, which choice do you think is better?

[liu1993918]

also, you can't just "not like choice C"... if you're going to hate an answer choice, then you need to throw your support behind another answer choice.

if you don't like choice C, which choice do you think is better?

When I was doing this question, I cross out all the answers and just randomly guess E. I thought C is wrong, because the passage talks about the negative effects of "gender ideology". I assumes the significant effects in C is positive, so I am wrong.

[RonPurewal]

the fix here is to think about how these words are used in the real world. the verbal questions do not contain jargon or “special” words; the words in the questions are used exactly as they would be used in everyday situations.

so, if someone says “your diet can have a significant effect on your health”, you’ll quickly realize that this “significant effect” can go either way.

[RonPurewal]

also, if you have any background in statistics, you’ll know that a “statistically significant” result can have any connotation whatsoever.
the phrase “statistically significant” just means that the thing in question is probably non-random; it does not connote a value judgment (good/bad and so on).

[RonPurewal]

finally, and perhaps most importantly--
it's possible that you genuinely have never seen “significant” used in this way.

in that case, this problem is a valuable learning experience!

don't forget--you should be happy when you get problems wrong while practicing, since those are the times when you'll actually learn new things.

more generally, if i had to define "practice", i'd define it as "session(s) in which someone does something, makes mistakes, and learns from those mistakes".

[750plus]

Which of the following can be inferred regarding the "gender ideology" mentioned in the highlighted text?

A. It prevented women from making significant contributions to the establishment of industrial unions
B. It resulted from the marginal ization of women in Industrial unions
C. It had a significant effect on the advancement of women's issues within industrial unions
D. Its primary tenets were nondiscrimination and inclusion
E. Its effects were mitigated by the growth of industrial unions

I still cannot understand why option A is incorrect ? Please if the instructor can explain. Thank You so much in advance.